Trumpet Blues: The Life of Harry James by Peter J. Levinson - JazzTimes By Jack Sohmer Trumpet Blues: The Life of Harry James by Peter J. Levinson A working associate and friend of Harry James from 1959 to his death in 1983, former booking agent and publicist Peter Levinson offers a no-nonsense look at the trumpeter’s lifetime career in music, from a childhood spent in his father’s traveling circus band, through his many years as a superstar celebrity, to his final decline as both artist and man. Although undoubtedly sincere in his professed love for jazz, Levinson surprisingly says very little about the music itself. Most notably, he neglects to describe in his own words how James differed in style and technique from other trumpet players, how his bands ranked musically in comparison with those of his contemporaries, and finally, how we should reconcile his blatant commercialism in the 1940s and ’50s with his oft-expressed admiration for Louis Armstrong and other jazzmen.

Levinson is especially strong in ferreting out the details of James’ early career as a circus bandsman, but he is too quick in glossing over his first big-time gig with the Ben Pollack band of the mid-1930s. The far more well-chronicled 1937-38 Benny Goodman period is treated better, thanks to already published research and a plethora of personal interviews with such important primary sources as Harry’s first wife, Louise Tobin, who sang with Goodman in 1939, and about 200 other musicians, friends, and business associates. Because of them, we learn much about the man behind the horn. Apparently a lusty guy from puberty onwards, Harry never learned to restrain his impulses, even when married to one of the most popular pin-up girls of the 1940s, top-ranking Hollywood actress Betty Grable. Even his sidemen marveled at his insatiable appetite, endurance, and, especially, his indiscriminate taste. Beautiful or ugly, young or old, they were all grist for his mill.

Harry’s legendary exploits in hotel bedrooms were only exceeded by his gargantuan thirst for booze and his self-destructive need to gamble away every dollar he earned, habits that ultimately even consumed Betty’s considerable savings as well. Levinson reports that by the time of her death in 1973, eight years after their 22-year-long marriage had ended, Harry and Betty had lost around $24 million at both the Las Vegas gaming tables and the track. His drinking, however, was by far the more serious of their problems, having eventually led him, on several occasions, to treat Betty like a punching bag. In 1965, Betty finally sued for divorce on the grounds of extreme cruelty. Harry kept his band working in Las Vegas and on the road to pay off his debts, but he had already lost the best meal ticket he was ever to have. Harry loved his horn first and foremost, with baseball running a close second, and from his youth he was gifted with such great chops that he never even had to warm up before playing, much less engage in routine practicing as most hornmen do. It all came so easily to him.

But, as was also the case with Bix Beiderbecke and Bunny Berigan, that superhuman tolerance for round-the-clock heavy drinking ultimately demanded its prize. Perhaps because of the better medical care available in the 1970s Harry did not die as young as Bix and Bunny had, but all accounts indicate that toward the end there was scarcely anything left of the one-time musical powerhouse. He was only 67 at the time of his death, but he looked much, much older. Additionally, because of cancer and the loss of his teeth, he had not been able to blow a note for some time. Levinson did a good job of piecing together Harry’s story from those who knew him personally, but in some cases his knowledge of jazz history is way off. For example, he says that in 1937, when Johnny Hodges recorded Harry’s swing instrumental, “Peckin’,” lyrics were added and the title was changed to “Foolin’ Myself.” Actually, “Foolin’ Myself,” a tune that Billie Holiday also recorded, has nothing to do with “Peckin'” except that both were recorded at the same session.

Indeed, Hodges’ “Peckin'” was initially rejected and did not surface on record until the late 1970s, when it appeared on a bootleg LP. Elsewhere, Levinson says that Lionel Hampton’s first recording on vibes was Louis Armstrong’s 1931 “Shine,” but the discographies, as well as Louis’ and Hamp’s own accounts, tell us that it was “Memories of You,” which was recorded five months earlier. Perhaps these gaffes are not too important in themselves, but they do cast doubt on the credibility of some of Levinson’s other remarks. In the course of reading, you may discover things you probably never knew about Harry’s relationship with his most illustrious stars-Frank Sinatra and Buddy Rich-among many other sidemen, singers, and show biz buddies. For example, the late Helen Forrest, who had sung with Artie Shaw and Goodman before joining James, tells of her unrequited love for the very much still married bandleader, who continually romanced his “chirp,” all the while putting off her dreams of marriage on the grounds that his father objected to her being Jewish!

Harry was also seeing Betty during this time, and when she got pregnant the busy trumpet player was forced to ask Louise for a divorce. This being 1943, if a hot film property and WWII dream girl like Grable were involved in a sex scandal, it would have wrecked her career, and Harry’s as well. Too much was at stake. Louise was high-pressured into a quickie Mexican divorce by Harry’s lawyer, thus freeing her errant husband to marry Betty and save the day for Hollywood. Like other pre-rock superstars, such as Sinatra and Rich, whose most supportive fans in the ’50s and ’60s were either big Vegas spenders or their middle-class wannabes, Harry was having the ball of his life. Ever the kid and thinking that the gravy train would never stop, he never even thought of saving or investing his money. It was only a matter of time, then, before his losses put him into serious debt to the mob. In a short time, he was virtually an indentured servant, his expensive ongoing payroll for his band and staff, his unpaid back taxes, and his continuing jones for the bottle and the tables eventually reducing him to financial ruin.

In his prime, a period that lasted far longer for him than it did for most trumpeters, Harry James was the living definition of a celebrity virtuoso, a modern-day Paganini or Liszt. He could swing with great flamboyance and heat, he could play the blues with sincerity, and he could endow ballads with “schmaltzy” romanticism. But, perhaps most importantly, in his latter years he could finally turn his band around to reflect his longstanding love for the Basie sound, which he demonstrated not only in his choice of arrangements by Neal Hefti and the late Ernie Wilkins, but also in his own adaptations of the styles of Buck Clayton and Harry Edison. James was certainly no musical innovator in the sense of a Louis, Roy, or Dizzy, but he was unquestionably the most technically well-endowed, versatile, and influential trumpeter of his time. It’s just a shame that he never grew up. Next Article Betty Grable - Bio, Facts, Family | Famous Birthdays Betty Grable Actress Born In Missouri#16 About WWII pinup girl who became known for having the most beautiful legs in Hollywood.

She appeared in How to Marry a Millionaire in 1953. Before Fame She made her film debut at the age of 12 as a chorus girl in the film Happy Days. Harry James – The More Things Change... June 3, 2012 by Susan Marg Leave a Comment A popular GI slogan during World War II was “I want a girl just like a girl that married Harry James.” Here’s looking at you! That girl was Betty Grable. Everyone was crazy for her. Ten million copies of her dressed in a one-piece, backless swimsuit, smiling coyly over her shoulder, were distributed, and the poster was plastered on billboards and barrack walls everywhere. When the couple met, she was the number one actress at the box office. He was the leader of the country’s hottest band and universally regarded as the greatest trumpet player in the world.

After extricating herself from her relationship with actor George Raft (a public fist fight he lost to James took care of that) and he got a quickie Mexican divorce from his first wife, they made plans to marry quietly at the Little Church of the West on the grounds of the Frontier Hotel, giving rise to the myth that they were the first celebrity couple to wed there. But it wasn’t so. The ardent fans and eager photographers who crowded the grounds so put off the soon-to-be newlyweds that they retreated to their hotel. A Baptist minister performed the ceremony in their room in the early hours of July 5, 1943. Despite James’ penchant for drinking, gambling, and philandering, they were married for twenty-two years. Still, the Little Church of the West does have a roster of famous names who crossed its threshold to marital bliss, if only for a short period of time, giving it the nickname “Chapel of the Stars.” Here are some of them. Zsa Zsa Gabor married British actor George Sanders in 1949. While he was purportedly the love of her life, they divorced in 1954.

By the way, Gabor also married her sixth and seventh husbands in Las Vegas. As we all know, those marriages didn’t work out either. Back at you! Judy Garland took Mark Herron to be her fourth, but not her last, husband in an impromptu, middle of the night ceremony in 1965. He left her several months later when he learned that he was responsible for half of her debts. For one of Hollywood’s most glamorous couples, Richard Gere and Cindy Crawford showed up casually dressed in 1991. Their marriage ended in 1995 due to personality differences. He was a Buddhist, and she wasn’t. And there’s Angelina Jolie and Billie Bob Thornton who wed in 2000. They took up wearing vials of each other’s blood around their necks, purchased joint grave plots, and shared a love of tattoos. Just over two years after they had gotten together, Billy Bob took off on tour to promote his rock album and Angelina stayed home with baby. For a Vegas wedding among the stars that didn’t come off exactly as planned, Betty and Harry didn’t do so badly after all.

© 2012 Susan Marg – All Rights Reserved ———————— To hear Harry James play “The Flight of the Bumblebee,” click here: Harry James Biography Harry James Biography Find Harry James on Amazon.com Born Harry Haag James, March 15, 1916, in Albany, GA; died of lymphatic cancer, July 5, 1983, in Las Vegas, NE; son of Everette (a trumpeter and circus director) and Mabel (a trapeze artist) James; married Louise Tobin (a singer), May 4, 1935 (divorced, 1943); married Betty Grable (an actress), July 5, 1943 (divorced, 1965); married Joan Boyd; children: (first marriage) Harry, Timothy; (second marriage) Victoria, Jessica; (third marriage) Michael. Called "a major figure of the swing era" by John S. Wilson in the New York Times, Harry James struck a resounding chord with the public of the late 1930s and remained a popular bandleader for over 40 years.

He built a reputation as one of the hottest trumpet players in the nation, then skyrocketed to fame after forming his own band and offering listeners a mix of romantic ballads and fast-paced jazz numbers. The New Grove Dictionary of American Music called him "a fine jazz improviser, possessing a verve that enhanced many small and large band recordings." James grew up "on the road" with the Mighty Haag Circus, of which his father, Everette James, was director and star trumpet player. His mother was the trapeze artist, and she reportedly kept performing her high-wire routines until a month before Harry was born. Harry demonstrated his musical talent at an early age and was eagerly trained by his father. The young James played drums by age four, mastered the trumpet by eight, played solos by ten, led the second band for the Christy Brothers Circus at 12, and won a state contest for trumpet playing in Texas at 14. As a teenager he began performing in bands around Beaumont, Texas, where his family had settled. After failing an audition for "champagne" bandleader Lawrence Welk, he was hired in 1935 by Ben Pollack, who had heard James play in Dallas.

Before long the lanky Texan with the southern drawl was recording jumping boogie-woogie numbers with the top musicians of the day, including Buster Bailey and Johnny Hodges. "King of Swing" Benny Goodman found out about James through his brother, Irving, and hired him to play in what was then the most popular swing band in the country. James's sizzling horn became known nationwide as he played alongside such greats as Gene Krupa on drums, Ziggy Elman on trumpet, Teddy Wilson on piano, and Lionel Hampton on vibes. His contribution was a key element of the success of such rocking tunes as "Sing Sing Sing," "One O'Clock Jump," and "Life Goes to a Party." Perhaps most notable about James at the time was the sheer force of his playing. "In his early years James was a brashly exciting player, attacking solos and abetting ensembles with a rich tone and what was at times an overwhelmingly powerful sound," described the Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music. In the late 1930s James reportedly took a $40,000 loan from Goodman to start his own band. The fledgling outfit struggled, however, and lost money in its early years.

That all changed in May of 1941, though, when James recorded a cover version of "You Made Me Love You," a hit for Judy Garland that he had especially liked. The tender ballad was a smash, with the flames of listener approval fanned by extensive play on the popular Make-Believe Ballroom radio program on WNEW in New York City. From there James went on to seal his popularity with a repertoire of easy-listening tunes and swinging instrumentals, shifting with ease from blues and boogie-woogie to Viennese waltzes. Many of his songs, such as "I Cried for You" and "I Don't Want to Walk Without You," addressed the sadness of separation caused by World War II. Churning out hits like "I Had the Craziest Dream," "Ciribiribin," "I've Heard That Song Before," and "Velvet Moon," the Harry James Band scored a series of million-selling discs. At one point the band was actually held responsible for a shortage of shellac, which was rationed during the war, as so much of it was required to press James's records.

By 1943 James was grossing well over $40,000 a week and was at the top of a number of bandleader popularity polls. Key to his rise in fame was a move away from pure jazz. Although James irritated his hard-core jazz fans with what they considered lightweight trumpet solos on recordings of "The Flight of the Bumble Bee" and "The Carnival of Venice," Wilson attested in the New York Times that his "success as a band leader only came when he added to his repertory romantic ballads played with warm emotion and a vibrato so broad that at times it seemed almost comic." America swooned at a celebrity match seemingly made in heaven when James wed leggy actress Betty Grable in July of 1943. Grable was the designated favorite pinup of G.I.s overseas, and the marriage prompted new lyrics to an old song, which resulted in the ditty "I Want a Girl Just Like the Girl That Married Harry James." The Grable connection further enhanced James's image, and he also appeared in a few of his wife's movies for Twentieth Century Fox. Further aiding his band's prominence during its wartime heyday was James's ability to recruit top-drawer singers.

At his microphone during the 1940s were legendary vocalists Dick Haymes, Helen Forrest, and Kitty Kallen. James had even discovered Frank Sinatra in the late 1930s, but Sinatra had left his band to sing for Tommy Dorsey. When the Big Band sound began to fade toward the end of the 1940s and many of the swing orchestras folded, James was among the few to keep his band going. He settled in Las Vegas but also toured abroad, bringing his entire entourage of 21 with him wherever he went. He continued to attract great performers, among them saxophonist Willie Smith, who had played in the Jimmie Lunceford band, and Juan Tizol, one-time trombonist for Duke Ellington. Other greats sharing the stage with James over the years included trumpet player Nick Buono and drummers Buddy Rich, Sonny Payne, and Louie Bellson. James served as technical adviser and played the trumpet parts for actor Kirk Douglas in the 1950 Warner Bros.

film "Young Man with a Horn." In the mid-1950s, he reassessed his career and turned toward more serious musical pursuits, assembling a group to play charts by Ernie Wilkins and Neal Hefti. The Guinness Encyclopedia called this particular James crew "one of the outstanding big bands." Still, it has been suggested that the bandleader's skills on the trumpet may have been best demonstrated outside of the big-band format. The Oxford Companion to Popular Music allowed that James "was sometimes inclined to over-emphasize his technique in the big-band context and was at his best in his occasional small group recordings." James continued to perform throughout the 1960s and 1970s, shuttling between long-term gigs at major hotels and casinos. He also developed a stable of racing horses. Some considered the music of James's later career among his best, tapping as it did the best of both serious jazz and popular music and leaving behind the indulgence of earlier years. Touring to the end, James gave his last performance on June 26, 1983, in Los Angeles--little more than a week before his death.

He is remembered by many as the wizard whose horn could blast listeners into a jitterbugging frenzy with one song, then soothe their souls with the next. by Ed Decker Harry James's Career Mastered the drums, c. 1920, and the trumpet, c. 1924; led second band for Christy Brothers Circus, c.

1928; worked as contortionist and led band in father's circus, 1920s; won state contest for trumpet playing, Texas, 1930; performed with bands, Beaumont, TX, early 1930s; member of Ben Pollack band, 1935-1937; member of Benny Goodman orchestra, 1937-1939; formed own band, 1939; recorded "You Made Me Love You," 1941; appeared on weekly musical radio program, 1940s; recorded series of million-selling records, 1940s; featured singers Frank Sinatra, Dick Haymes, Helen Forrest, and Kitty Kallen in his band; played and recorded with Teddy Wilson, Buster Bailey, Johnny Hodges, Corky Corcoran, Buddy Rich, Willie Smith, among other musicians; recorded charts by Ernie Wilkins and Neal Hefti, 1950s; appeared in films, including Hollywood Hotel, 1937, Springtime in the Rockies, 1942, Two Girls and a Sailor, 1944, and The Benny Goodman

 Story, 1955.

Famous Works Cancel or almost 9 years ago 2/9/08 I had the pleasure of spending some time with Harry James when my partner and I booked his band for a series of concerts in the 70's in Clearwater, FL. I think he was in exceptional form when we recorded his 32nd Anniversary Night and it was remastered by Ron Hickcock and now appears on his label: Hickcock Media. Harry loved baseball and would stay with us at the Ft. Harrison Hotel in Clearwater during the spring training season. He went to the ballpark every afternoon and traveled the state by bus for concerts throughout our area. His manager PeeWee Monte was a genius in handing the band"s details. Copyright © 2017 Net Industries - All Rights Reserved HARRY JAMES, TRUMPTER AND BAND LEADER, DIES AT 67 - NYTimes.com HARRY JAMES, TRUMPTER AND BAND LEADER, DIES AT 67 By JOHN S.

WILSON Published: July 6, 1983 Harry James, a major figure of the swing era whose strong, urgent trumpet was a driving force in Benny Goodman's orchestra in the late 1930's and who formed a band of his own in 1939 that remained popular for more than 40 years, died yesterday in Valley Hospital in Las Vegas. Mr. James, who was 67 years old and lived in Las Vegas, had been ill with lymphatic cancer since April. But he continued to appear occasionally with his band and gave his last performance on June 26 in Los Angeles. Mr. James shot to fame during the two years from 1937 to 1939 when, as a member of Benny Goodman's orchestra, he played a hot, exciting trumpet on such tunes as ''Sing Sing Sing,'' ''One O'Clock Jump'' and ''Life Goes to a Party.'' But his success as a band leader came only when he added to his repertory romantic ballads played with warm emotion and a vibrato so broad that at times it seemed almost comic.

The tune that turned him toward ballads was ''You Made Me Love You,'' which he recorded in May 1941, a little more than two years after he had started his own band. He recorded the song because he liked the way Judy Garland sang it. What he played was a trumpet version of her singing. Record Greeted With Scorn Critics who had held Mr. James in high regard as a jazz trumpeter, greeted the record with scorn. But when the New York disk jockey Martin Block began playing it regularly on his popular ''Make-Believe Ballroom'' program on WNEW, the public reaction was immediate and strong. Mr. James, whose band was playing in Pittsburgh at the time, did not learn about this until a month later when he opened an engagement at the Brooklyn Paramount. ''When we got there, people were lined up all around the block,'' Mr. James told the jazz historian George Simon. ''I thought there had been an accident because we hadn't seen a crowd since we had the band. So I walked up and asked, 'What's wrong? What's everybody doing?' They said, 'We're waiting to hear Harry James.' And I said, 'You're kidding.

We're a hit?' '' Using a mixture of swinging instrumentals and soulfully played ballads -particularly ballads that stressed the separations caused by World War II, such as ''I Cried for You'' and ''I Don't Want to Walk Without You'' - Mr. James widened his popularity across the country. Within a year he had broken into a weekly radio program that featured the bands with the most popular records and had replaced Glenn Miller on the three-times-a-week Chesterfield program. He was also appearing on Jack Benny's weekly program and was playing such big hits as ''I Had the Craziest Dream'' and ''Ciribiribin,'' his theme. His band was so popular that in June 1942 Columbia Records attributed a shellac shortage to Mr. James. Shellac, from which recordings were then made, was rationed because of the war, and the record company was pouring much of its limited supply into Mr.

James's records - 1,250,000 copies of ''I've Heard That Song Before,'' one million each of ''Velvet Moon'' and ''You Made Me Love You'' and a reissue of ''All or Nothing at All,'' which had sold 16,000 copies three years earlier but, in its second incarnation, was approaching the million mark. Married Betty Grable in 1943 As if this form of popularity were not enough, in July 1943, ''America's favorite trumpet player'' married ''America's favorite pinup'' - the actress Betty Grable, whose form adorned the walls of G.I. barracks and tents around the world. Servicemen immediately began singing a new version of an old, old song - ''I Want a Girl Just Like the Girl That Married Harry James.'' The mustachioed Mr. James, who was a tall, thin, almost gaunt young man when he was playing with Benny Goodman, filled out physically with his success and, in his later years, looked like a successful businessman. He also dressed more conservatively than in his younger days, when his loud and flashily cut clothes seemed a clue to his circus origins.

His father, Everette James, was the director and the featured trumpet player in the Mighty Haag Circus. Mabel James, his mother, was a trapeze artist. She continued to perform her aerial routines until a month before Harry Haag James (he got his middle name from the circus) was born on March 15, 1916, in a show-business hotel next to the local jail in Albany, Ga. Harry James traveled with the circus for several years before his parents settled down in Beaumont, Tex. A 65-year-old contortionist taught the boy some of his tricks and they were soon doing an act together, billed as ''The Youngest and Oldest Contortionists in the World.'' Leader of the Band at 12 Mr. James learned to play the drums when he was 4 and by the time he was 8, his father began teaching him to play the trumpet. Within a year, he was playing in his father's band. By the time he was 10 he was playing solos and by the time he was 12 he was leading one of the circus's two bands.

As a teen-ager, he began playing in bands around Beaumont and once auditioned for Lawrence Welk. ''It was just a seven-piece group then,'' Mr. James recalled. ''He liked my trumpet all right. Then he asked me what else I could play and I told him drums. But that wasn't enough. He wanted guys who could play at least four or five instruments, so I didn't get the job.'' 1 Musicians in Movies: Harry James | Lindsay's Movie Musings Lindsay's Movie Musings Posted on January 31, 2012 by angelnumber25 One of my favorite things in classic film is getting to see some of my favorite performers playing on film. I’ve been a trumpet player for about 11 years now, and one of the first things I was told when starting was to listen to the great players and start to develop a sound concept from which to begin my own. While I am pretty much a classically trained musician, I’ve loved jazz since before I even started playing, especially Big Band era swing.

Harry James was a fantastic trumpet player who came up through the Big Band ranks, first soloing with the Benny Goodman Orchestra in the 1930s before later leading a band of his own beginning at the end of decade. He gave Frank Sinatra his first start singing with the band in 1939, a partnership that only lasted six months but led to Sinatra’s first recordings, starting with From the Bottom of My Heart. James had a style that I would describe as beautifully full in all registers, with a trademark wide vibrato. His tone really sings, something that really pops out on slow ballads. But he was just as much an effortless technician, playing the most difficult passages with the appearance of ease. An early appearance of James on film was in 1937 for Warner Bros’ Hollywood Hotel starring Dick Powell and Rosemary Lane. The film features Powell as a member of Benny Goodman’s Orchestra trying to make it in Hollywood as a movie star after being selected from a contest. This sequence shows Goodman leading the band through the last half of his famous Sing, Sing, Sing. Gene Krupa is on drums, and James is the featured trumpet soloist: This next clip demonstrates James’ technical ability.

From MGM’s Best Foot Foward, Flight of the Bumblebee: James had another tie to Hollywood after he famously married starlet Betty Grable in 1943. They would have two daughters together, divorcing in 1965. Here they are before marriage in the 1942 film, Springtime in the Rockies: You Made Me Love You was a huge hit for James and his orchestra, helping to propel him to the stardom he enjoyed beginning in the 1940s. He performs it here in 1942’s Private Buckaroo: Another interesting film appearance for James wasn’t actually an appearance in a role or as a bandleader. In Michael Curtiz’s 1950 film Young Man with a Horn, James doubled the trumpet playing for Kirk Douglas. The story is said to be loosely based on the life of cornetist Bix Beiderbecke, and if that’s the case, in my opinion you couldn’t have found a player who is more opposite of Bix’s playing style. That aside, I think they did a good job of teaching Douglas to look convincing even if he wasn’t playing, something that oftentimes gets neglected in movies.

No matter what, it is easy to pick out James’ signature sound: Though James mostly played himself on film, he did get credited with a few roles as well (I personally haven’t seen any of them). I’m always tickled when I stumble across a film clip of a famous musician, as it presents a chance to see that person actually play, and in the case of James, Goodman, etc., see them in their prime during the height of their popularity. This last clip is also from Springtime in the Rockies. It begins with James’ theme song, Ciribiribin, and moves into the beautiful I Had the Craziest Dream before finishing with You Made Me Love You. Yes, that Harry James is solid. Share this: Harry James - Biography - IMDb Harry James Jump to: Overview (3) | Mini Bio (1) | Spouse (2) | Trivia (7) | Personal Quotes (3) Overview (3) Harry Haag James Mini Bio (1) Harry James was born in a rundown hotel next to the city jail in Albany, Georgia. His mother and father were members of a circus - she as a trapeze artist and he a band leader - with the Mighty Haag Circus.

At seven, they settled in Beaumont, Texas where Harry learned to play drums. By twelve, he was playing trumpet in the Christy Brothers circus band. In 1936 James joined Ben Pollack 's band, soon leaving to lead the brass section of Benny Goodman 's band. He even once applied to Lawrence Welk 's band but was turned down because they said he played too loud and it was not Welk's style. After three years with Goodman, he wanted to leave, and with Goodman's backing, he formed the Music Makers. In 1943 he married pinup queen Betty Grable , his second of four wives. He had earlier married and divorced Louise Tobin, a singer. Grable kept appearing in movies and Harry kept playing while they raised horses. He made his debut in Philadelphia at the Ben Franklin Hotel and soon was a nationwide favorite of dance lovers and jazz addicts, rocking the rafters at the Hollywood Paladium, Chicago's famous College Inn at the Hotel Sherman, Frank Dailey's Meadowbrook in Cedar Cove, NJ, and then onto New York City.

It was the Lincoln Hotel in NYC that the Music Makers called home, but James also starred at the Paramount Theater in the spring of 1943, with thousands of teenagers flocking to see him. His version of You Made Me Love You was a big hit and a favorite of many through the war years. James was a great discoverer of talent, finding Frank Sinatra working as a waiter in a New Jersey restaurant and giving him a job singing in his band. Dick Haymes , Kitty Kallen , Connie Haines and Helen Forrest can all thank James for giving them their first real break. In 1963 his band was featured at Disneyland, still known as the Music Makers. He played his last gig at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles on June 26, 1983, just a few days before dying of lymphatic cancer. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Mike McKinley Spouse (2) JAMES, HARRY HAAG | The Handbook of Texas Online| Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) Site JAMES, HARRY HAAG Harry James was a popular trumpeter and bandleader of the big band era.

He appeared cameo or with Benny Goodman’s band in many movies of the 1940s and 1950s. Duncan Schiedt Collection. JAMES, HARRY HAAG (1916–1983). Harry Haag James, jazz trumpet player and big-band leader, was born to Everett Robert and Maybelle (Stewart) James on March 15, 1916, in Albany, Georgia. James began his stage life as the circus contortionist in the Haag Circus, which later became the Christy Brothers Circus. The gimmick was "the Youngest and Oldest Contortionists in the World," because young Harry worked with a seventy-year-old partner. He started his musical education with the drums at age four in the circus band. He learned to play piano and trumpet with his father, the circus bandmaster. Though thought by many to be a native Texan, Harry James did not arrive in Texas until the 1930s, when he and his parents moved to Beaumont. There he played trumpet and led a band. In 1934 he toured as a trumpet player with Joe Gill.

When he joined Art Hicks and His Orchestra in 1934 he met vocalist and North Texas native Louise Tobin. They married in 1935. Tobin, a rising star in her own right, would later be featured with Benny Goodman’s orchestra before relenting to James’s wishes that she give up her career to start a family; they had two sons. James joined Ben Pollack's band in 1935 and made his recording debut with the group early in 1936. Fame came later that year, when James joined Benny Goodman's orchestra. He made a name for himself with fiery trumpet solos and an appearance in the band's 1938 movie, Hollywood Hotel. After he started the Harry James Band in 1939, his hit song "You Made Me Love You" (1941) sold more than a million copies. Other popular Harry James recordings included "Carnival in Venice" and "Flight of the Bumble Bee." Early in his career as bandleader, James hired an unknown Frank Sinatra upon the recommendation of his wife Louise, but Sinatra soon left his band and accepted an offer to join Tommy Dorsey.

Listen to this artist James had a great technique that showed off rich, brassy tones. A true virtuoso, Harry, along with his band, developed the boogie-woogie style for big-band swing. His romantic ballads, the key to his success, shot him to fame as a big-band leader. In 1941 a national poll voted his band the number-one dance band in the country. He appeared on radio shows for Danny Kaye, Coca Cola, and Jack Benny, and also on his own series, sponsored by Chesterfield Cigarettes. Some of the famous musicians who performed with Harry James in the 1940s were Dick Haymes, Frank Sinatra, and Helen Forrest. Into the 1950s and 1960s Harry and the band were joined as well by Buddy Rich, Sam Firmature, Jack Perciful, and Ray Sims. James continued to be popular, appearing cameo or with Benny Goodman's band in many movies, including Two Girls and a Sailor (1944), Young Man with a Horn (1950), The Benny Goodman Story (1955), and Anything Goes (1956).

Still an active musician in the 1970s, he was quoted then as saying, "I don't look at people as changing, being old or being young. I just look down from the stand to see if people are having fun." James divorced Louise Tobin in 1943 and promptly married actress Betty Grable. He and Betty moved to Las Vegas, where Harry played for many years. They had two daughters but were divorced in 1965. Afterward, he married Joan Boyd, a Las Vegas showgirl, with whom he had a son. James died of cancer at the age of sixty-seven on July 5, 1983, in Las Vegas, Nevada. That year he was inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame. The Museum of the Gulf Coast’s Music Hall of Fame in Port Arthur also honors James as a music legend, and he has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Charles Eugene Claghorn, Biographical Dictionary of Jazz (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice–Hall, 1982).

Peter Gammond, The Oxford Companion to Popular Music (Oxford University Press, 1991). Roger D. Kinkle, The Complete Encyclopedia of Popular Music and Jazz: 1900–1950 (4 vols., New Rochelle, New York: Arlington House, 1974). Vertical Files, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin. Leo Walker, The Big Band Almanac (Hollywood: Vinewood Enterprises, 1978). Alan Lee Haworth

Question: Which Hollywood actress did trumpet player Harry James marry?
Answer: BETTY GRABLE